(Click here for Our press release about the event)

On Easter Monday, Earth Day volunteers came from all over Zurich Canton to participate in Switzerland’s first official Pokemon Go Earth Day Event. In Partnership with Niantic and the Pokemon Company, Lovelstzy Association organized sponsorships from Haus Hiltl and the Gemeinde of Stäfa.

It was a warm day and not too sunny, the volunteers arrived one by one at Zurich HB. After going around in a circle, sharing names and giving a short bio of themselves, the group left towards the Langstrasse, catching Pokemon and picking up bits of trash along the way. Before we knew it, the biodegradable bags that were donated by Mr. Jovan Drapsin started to fill.

The Gemeinde Zurich suggested us to clean at the Langstrasse, and for good reason.

From glass and plastic bottles, cans and other trash, the amount that was picked up initially became quite a nice pile:

We took a break at Haus Hiltl, the oldest vegetarian/vegan restaurant chain in the world. It was conveniently located at one of their newest locations on Langstrasse. There also so happened to be two Pokemon Stops to spin at the location and one volunteer set up two lures to attract Pokemon to the location. Thanks to the sponsorship from Hiltl, all volunteers received a 20% discount during the event and enjoyed every bite. Even Pikachu enjoyed it!

After eating, one volunteer suggested to head towards the river, we did so and ended up at a park where aside from cleaning the trash, the group synchronically participated in a Raid (a special timed event) to catch a Drifloon.

Once the area was clean of trash (and Pokemon), they headed back towards Zurich HB and eventually arrived at the Bus Station, which was full of trash everywhere. The group spent the remainder of the event cleaning up this area. With so many people traveling in and out of Switzerland from this port, it’s no wonder it gets so messy!

Finally, at the end of the event, everyone got together for a group photo to celebrate their community achievement. The satisfaction of making a difference in the world shines on their faces as they pose with Pikachu.

Someone waiting for a bus assisted with the shot and happily recognized Pikachu in the photo shouting “Pika Pika” after assisting with the camera.

The group said their goodbyes and were open and interested in further events. Who knows what will come in the next chapter for this group?

Lovelstzy took the trash back to Stäfa, the headquarters of the Association and weighed the

trash that was measured 13kg to count towards Niantic’s Global Earth Day Report. It then had to be sorted to remove the various tin cans and glass/plastic bottles that took up most of the space in the bags.

A Grimer appeared, known for their love of Trash and had to be caught in order to continue sorting.

With all the trash sorted, the following day Lovelstzy Association traveled to the local recycling area in Stäfa for proper disposal. The bags were donated by the Stäfa Gemeinde (Town Hall) for the event.

The recyclable free trash was placed to be picked up by the city. We made sure not to leave it out as we realized some foxes might get hungry during the night.

We, however, weren’t expecting another kind of fox, a Vulpix to show up during the day.

SwissInteg, a project in cooperation with this event is about educating newcomers and residents alike to learn rules and customs to Switzerland. Last week the first animated video was launched on how to properly deal with Swiss Trash and features the sponsored yellow Stäfa bags featured during the event.

The footage that was taken during this time will be used in the next video on Swiss Recycling.

Learn more at http://swissinteg.ch

All in all, it couldn’t have been a more perfect day for this event.  A big thank you to all the volunteers and sponsors who made this event successful, it wouldn’t have happened without you! Also several volunteers have joined together to create a pre-screening of the upcoming film Detective Pikachu, the evening before its international release on May 10th 2019. Click here for more details and reservation information.